Archive for January, 2014

Increasingly companies, organisations and governments are entering into CSR programs. CSR is primarily an attitude that can be implemented in many ways.

It’s about being a good corporate citizen.

The customers or consumers can benefit from the CSR program of an organisation, as they are rewarded by choosing an ethically and socially responsible product or service.

Look how the Nike brand was damaged by using Sweat Shops to produce their products. The garment factory fires in Bangladesh has also had repercussions on retailers here and around the world.

CSR benefits the brand and its reputation, by giving the consumer another reason to chose it. When all else is equal, a brand’s reputation can make the difference.

There are many benefits in developing a meaningful CSR program, the obvious one is the associated good-will that is generated towards the organisation. However a ROI is also counted as a primary objective and benefit of the program.

The second day of the New Year’s cricket test, at the Sydney Cricket ground, is traditionally a day given over to the the McGrath Foundation and is known as the Pink Test.

This was the sixth Pink Test and to-date over 5 Million Dollars have been raised to provide Breast Care Nurses throughout Australia.

This year, as the major sponsor of The Ashes, the Commonwealth Bank were involved for the first time.

I watched it on TV and it was a fun day, with the involvement of both the Australian and English cricket sides, the Chanel 9 commentary team and of course the spectators.

The biggest surprise to me was that the Commonwealth Bank actually changed their logo for the day.

It’s a brave company that messes with their corporate identity, but it paid off.

The pink logo would have been noticed more in this test than any of the four that had gone before.

MAN (Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg) are market leaders in Europe but are trailing behind in Australia.

Through desktop research and general observation we discovered that many Australian buyers chose MAN because of its fuel efficiency. As fuel is the single biggest expense in operating a long-haul truck in Australia, it wasn’t surprising.

Fuel efficiency is taken for granted in Europe, where diesel prices are high and MAN are regarded as leaders in fuel efficient technology.

This is understandable considering that in 1893 Rudolf Diesel worked with MAN to develop the first diesel engine – with fuel efficiency being a primary objective.

We developed five ads in the campaign, all with the express purpose of promoting the MAN fuel efficiency story.

By simply talking about fuel consumption we challenged the consumer, and the industry, to reassess their thinking.

This simultaneously repositioned the others manufactures as being less fuel efficient.